City Hall Needs Operation Jaguar…

By: Mike Rudon Jr.

Everybody in the UDP seems either dumbfounded as to a solution for the City Hall crisis or content to pretend that it doesn’t exist. Mr. Barrow falls firmly into the second category and seems to believe that if he gives Mayor Moya a wide berth he won’t be tainted with the stink. But I get the feeling that the glimmer man won’t be able to feign complete and utter moral distance for too much longer. This morning I listened to one of the talk show hosts who seems most hard pressed to criticize the UDP refer to the mess at City Hall with distaste and even disgust, and that’s saying something. He seemed unwilling to make any connection between the UDP and City Hall, but I believe that the rest of the country won’t be that tolerant or willing to grant Mr. Barrow the distance he desires. See, this scourge that has been visited upon us, so to speak, was once Mr. Barrow’s golden girl, his protégée, his political wunderkind, his ‘gift’ to the Belizean people.

I’ve watched Mr. Barrow keenly every time he deigns to speak on any topic for any length of time. I don’t listen so much to what he says because that to me is nothing more than pretty little bits of rubbish presented by a master orator with the gift of gab. But I study his demeanor, and I believe that the gentleman’s veneer of respectability and integrity and honor and decency is wearing pretty thin. His ‘you can trust me’ confidence is shot to pieces. His ‘I have things under control’ façade is becoming a joke. A couple days ago Mr. Barrow told Jules in an interview – well you know me, Jules, I stay far away from any hint or whiff of impropriety. And in my mind’s ear I could hear a collective sigh of disbelief and distrust and even frustration that Mr. Barrow is still ‘facey’ enough to pass that old tired spiel by us.

But yeah, back to City Hall. Zenaida Moya is Mr. Barrow’s baby, no matter how much she hurt his feelings by challenging his manhood or lack thereof. He, our learned leader, is to blame for every cent that has gone missing from City Hall. He is to blame for every single bloated contract, every sweetheart deal, the mismanagement of funds, misappropriation of funds and under-depositing…you name it. Mr. Barrow is to blame for every overgrown park and every broken and rutted street and every clogged drain and every pile of stinking, rotting garbage which covers the city. He is to blame for workers not receiving their salaries, for every crisis and every scam and scandal in City Hall which pops up with stunning regularity. He is to blame for City Hall being bankrupt and unable to provide any services to Belizeans. You get my point.

See, Mr. Barrow had the opportunity to put his foot down way back at the very beginning when evidence started to surface implicating the Mayor is some very serious financial ‘situations.’ As the leader of the UDP and Zenaida Moya’s political boss, Mr. Barrow should have dealt with her a long time ago. As the leader of the nation, Mr. Barrow had a responsibility to intercede in the affairs of City Hall to ensure that taxpayer monies was being spent properly and that Belizeans were getting the representation for which they voted. Way back then, when Mr. Barrow should have done the right thing, he did nothing and our people have paid and are still paying the price for his reticence.

Like a talk show host said just this morning…the situation at City Hall has passed from the realm of the ridiculous into the arena of the sublime. The Mayor is apparently not a UDP anymore since she has been kicked out and three of the most senior managers at City Hall have resigned claiming that the situation there is untenable. But even now Mr. Barrow has said nothing. I fully expect that the people will say something sooner rather than later though.

Mr. Torres called in to one of the talk shows with a good idea this morning. He said that Operation Jaguar needs to be deployed into City Hall to root out the corruption and crime. Hell, if it works I’m all for it, Mr. T.

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